Physician’s Briefing Weekly Coronavirus Roundup

Here is what the editors at Physician’s Briefing chose as the most important COVID-19 developments for you and your practice for the week of April 27 to May 1, 2020. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal studies and other trusted sources that is most likely to affect clinical practice.

COVID-19 Case Fatality Rate Increased for Cancer Patients

FRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Cancer patients have an increased case fatality rate from COVID-19, according to a study from a New York hospital system published online May 1 in Cancer Discovery.

FRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted an emergency use authorization for remdesivir to treat hospitalized patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, the agency announced Friday.

FRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) — In a cohort of hospitalized adults with COVID-19, black patients have a similar probability of receiving invasive mechanical ventilation or dying compared with nonblack patients, but they are disproportionately represented among hospitalized patients, according to a study published online April 29 in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

FRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For patients with COVID-19, anosmia is strongly associated with a reduced likelihood of being admitted to the hospital, according to a study published online April 24 in the International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology.

FRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Contact tracing can reduce the time to case isolation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, according to a study published online April 27 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

FRIDAY, May 1, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Right ventricular longitudinal strain is a predictor of mortality in patients with COVID-19, according to a study published online April 28 in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging.

THURSDAY, April 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Remdesivir may speed time to clinical improvement for patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, although results are conflicting, according to a study published online April 29 in The Lancet and press releases issued regarding a National Institutes of Health-sponsored study.

THURSDAY, April 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) — At least half of older adults report experiencing a disruption to their medical care at one month into social distancing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey released April 27 by NORC at University of Chicago.

THURSDAY, April 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Screening symptomatic health care workers for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection is feasible during the pandemic, according to a research letter published online April 22 in The Lancet.

THURSDAY, April 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A competition between researchers is part of a $1.5 billion program that seeks to speed development of accurate, quick, and easy-to-use COVID-19 tests, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced Wednesday.

THURSDAY, April 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For patients with COVID-19, male gender is associated with worse outcomes, independent of age, according to a study published online April 29 in Frontiers in Public Health.

THURSDAY, April 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Cases of large-vessel stroke in individuals younger than 50 years are described in patients with COVID-19 in a case report published online April 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

THURSDAY, April 30, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Mildly symptomatic patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection often have alterations in smell or taste, according to a research letter published online April 22 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

WEDNESDAY, April 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) — More than one-quarter of health care workers with patient contact are at risk for poor outcomes from COVID-19, according to a study published online April 28 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

WEDNESDAY, April 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Quantitative smell testing shows that decreased smell function is a major marker for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, according to a study published online April 17 in the International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology.

WEDNESDAY, April 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Hospitals should have a formal plan to respond to the increasing need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in the setting of a pandemic such as COVID-19, according to a study published online April 15 in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

WEDNESDAY, April 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Prevention, diagnosis, and therapeutic management of thromboembolic complications in COVID-19 are discussed in a report published online April 23 in Radiology.

WEDNESDAY, April 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Primary percutaneous coronary intervention remains the standard of care for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a consensus statement published online April 20 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

WEDNESDAY, April 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A considerable proportion of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 have gastrointestinal manifestations, according to a study involving patients at a U.S. hospital published online April 10 in Gastroenterology.

National Coronavirus Testing Strategy Announced as U.S. Cases Top 1 Million

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) — While health experts continued to call for a national strategy to test more Americans for coronavirus, President Donald Trump on Monday announced a “blueprint” for boosting testing capacity as some states began reopening their economies.

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Abdominal pain, gastrointestinal complaints, and heart inflammation are among the symptoms in children with a rare syndrome that may be linked to COVID-19, British health officials say.

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Universal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 testing of pregnant women presenting for delivery in New York City revealed that most positive patients were asymptomatic, according to a research letter published online April 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Persons aged 60 to 69 years with COVID-19 are the most commonly hospitalized, according to a research letter published online April 24 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) — High-dosage chloroquine diphosphate has potential safety hazards when used as adjunctive therapy for patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19, according to a study published online April 24 in JAMA Network Open.

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) — An estimated 45.4 percent of U.S. adults may have an increased risk for COVID-19 complications due to chronic conditions, according to a study published in the August issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

TUESDAY, April 28, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Recommendations have been developed for use of anesthesia during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a joint statement issued by the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine and the European Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Therapy.

David Shulkin, M.D., on COVID-19 Financial Consequences for Health Care System

MONDAY, April 27, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Health care organizations are facing hard financial decisions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but an end is in sight as some are beginning to slowly open back up around the country, according to David Shulkin, M.D. Shulkin, who served as ninth secretary for Veterans Affairs and is former president and CEO of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, spoke with HealthDay during a live stream on the HealthDay YouTube channel and live blog.

MONDAY, April 27, 2020 (HealthDay News) — There is “no evidence” that people who have recovered from COVID-19 cannot be reinfected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, according to the World Health Organization.

MONDAY, April 27, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Acute respiratory distress syndrome due to COVID-19 is associated with neurologic features, including encephalopathy, agitation, and confusion, according to a letter to the editor published online April 15 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

MONDAY, April 27, 2020 (HealthDay News) — A single symptomatic COVID-19 infection results in direct medical costs of $3,045 in the United States, according to a study published online April 23 in Health Affairs.

MONDAY, April 27, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is not detected in the semen of patients one month after COVID-19 diagnosis, according to a study published online April 17 in Fertility and Sterility.